.............is this what is supposed to happen when i put the ice in the oven?
alrigth as a gift to myself i bought TBB and BBA for Christmas. After a few months of baking bread I am definitely a "bread head" I absolutely love this craft. I am a nerd at heart and the chemistry of it all fascinates me! The fact that if I screw something up I know exactly why it happended and can correct it next time. Not to mention the fact that it seems to be a relatively inexpensive hobby for me (compared to scrapbooking and stamping, computers, etc.).
Well I am making the regular Hearth Bread and it said to put 1/2 of ice cubes in the pan underneath my baking rack for steam........I get this. But after about 3 minutes My house is well...........kind of smoky! It doesn't smell like things burning, but I have smoke anyway. Is this normal? Should I make sure my oven is perfectly clean first? I use an electric oven and the heating element is on the bottom of the oven, so i do not put the pan directly on the bottom like it said to do b/c i didn't want the pan sitting right on the element.
Any advice or clues as to why this is happening would be appreciated.
Other than that it was my first time trying a preferment and I LOVED it! The dough i just put in the oven is the absolute best dough I have ever made, it felt wonderful and when i scored it it responded wonderfully. Despite this weird smoke/steam whatever it is, I think this is going to taste great!
Cara